Baku attempts to disrupt mediator initiatives on NK conflict settlement: Kazimirov
The stance of Baku’s leadership towards the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs doesn’t stand out with constructiveness, former Russian OSCE MG Co-chair Vladimir Kazimirov said for an article in “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
“The peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict claimed 20 years and still requires more and more. If the two Armenian sides are willing to work towards the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the official Baku doesn’t even strive for that, on the contrary it tries to somehow undermine the initiatives of the mediators or delay their revision. Moreover, as previously, President Ilham Aliyev continues to make threats on launching military operations,” Kazimirov said.
According to him, despite the incorrect calculations of the former leadership of Baku and the rather instructive nature of the 1991-1994 Karabakh War, it seems that the current leadership is unable to whatsoever give accurate and real assessments to most important factors, for instance what would a new military conflict cost for its own people and region, and what consequences it will have.
“Among the failures of Baku, it is worth to also include the not-rarely observed insufficient seriousness towards settlement of the Karabakh conflicts in documents, which were signed in its presence.
Ilham Aliyev’s stance – pushing the Karabakh settlement through the withdrawal of Armenian forces, is naïve and unrealistic. It is definitely clear that the withdrawal of forces can happen only by reliable strengthening of cessation of fire and military operations, as well as establishment of Nagorno Karabakh’s new status.
The emphasis of the 1994 April 15 statement of CIS heads of states – adopted with the participation of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan – are more real. Here, the sequence of actions of the conflict settlement is specified. Ilham Aliyev’s stance is absolutely contrary to the stance of CIS heads of states,” he said.
